Lenten Series: They Are Holy (Almsgiving)

for Sunday, April 13, 2014 Palm Sunday Passion Sunday Year A lectionary focus: Matthew 21:1-11; Matthew 26:14-27:66 note: This is part of our Lenten Series on Almsgiving. Today we are collecting toiletries for our local shelter; for our friends in the Southern Hemisphere, it would be cool to collect winter coats connecting to the laying of garments before Christ’s donkey.

Welcome! Thank you for your Almsgiving! Yes, here, we are gathering all of the toiletries into this basket. I see shampoo and soap and hairbrushes and toothpaste. So many items to help our friends feel clean and comfortable.

We call our church God’s house. We take care of God’s house by keeping it clean. We put back the hymnals and Bibles in the pew racks. We pick up our bulletins. During the week, we dust and vacuum. We change the flowers and the candles. We replace the burned out lightbulbs and put out new prayer cards. We repair anything that breaks. By making God’s house clean and neat, we keep it a comfortable and welcoming…and Holy place to be.

And since Jesus lives in our hearts, we also keep our bodies clean. My friend Margaret Atwood says, “In the Spring, at the end of the day, you should smell like dirt.” I agree! But I also agree that after smelling like dirt, it feels really good to get clean. To bathe and shampoo my hair and put on lotion and fresh, clean clothes. Ah. Nice. Getting myself clean and neat makes me feel comfortable and healthy…and Holy.

Today is called Palm Sunday. Today we begin the last week leading us to the Mystery and Joy of Easter. Our Bible stories this week take us from riding in a parade, to carrying the cross, to finding the empty tomb. We go from happy, to sad, to joyful. So many important things happen this week that we call it Holy Week. And as our hearts and minds go through all of the emotions of Holy Week, we ask: What can we do to help others? Our Almsgiving this Lenten Season has shared bread and water and socks and eyeglasses and even treats for animals. Today we have brought toiletries. Yes, it is a funny word, but these are items that help our bodies feel clean and comfortable and ready to go forth into the world. We share these items with others who are having a hard time so that they will feel clean, that they will enjoy comfort, and that they will know we see Christ in them, we see them as Holy. Thank you for your Almsgiving. Thank you for doing this Holy work of sharing God’s love.

Next week we will begin Easter with great jubilation. We will rejoice in the Lord. We want you to bring flowers. Your flowers will fill the sanctuary with nature’s beauty…and then after church, we will share the flowers with those in our church family who are suffering from illness or conditions that keep them from coming to church. Since they cannot be here, we will take some of here to them.

Will you pray with me? (This is an echo prayer: the leader says a line and the children repeat it.)

Dear Lord,
We enter Holy Week
thinking of others.
Bless our gifts for them
that they may feel clean,
that they may enjoy comfort,
that they may know we see them as Holy.
Amen

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This website contains a children’s sermon for each Sunday of the 3-year Revised Common Lectionary cycle with posts from July 2011 to July 2014. The Lectionary Date, Scripture, and Keyword Search Indexes will help you navigate and locate appropriate sermons. I will occasionally post new sermons, especially trying to hit the High Holy Days. I love hearing from you and enjoy being a part of this story with you. Thank you for sharing God’s love!
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